Goals and Aims Our goal is to establish a new Research Cluster to serve as a hub of intellectual activity to build innovative environmental genomics into the EHSRC research portfolio and to serve as a resource that will facilitate the transfer of knowledge, strategy and techniques to junior investigators beginning new programs and established investigators ready to incorporate genomics into existing EHSRC investigations. We will take advantage of successful efforts already in place on our campus with investigators who have a long standing experience of genomics/genetics as well as the capability to provide leadership and guidance. The primary goal in building an environmental genomics research capability is to take advantage of the developments in both laboratory techniques and analytical advances to provide a setting in which investigators can add genetics/genomics to new or ongoing research programs. The initial publication of human genome sequence in 2000 has been followed by a series of ever more startling developments that provide opportunities for individual and population based studies incorporating genetics on a scale that exceeds even the most positive views of just a few years ago. DMA sequencing capabilities, gene expression analysis, proteomics and genotype analysis are now all affordable on a genome scale to even modest size laboratory groups.